Beverage bottles are stored, transported, and sometimes displayed, in plastic reusable crates. Manufacturers attempt to implement several features or characteristics to efficiently transport and store both bottle-filled crates and empty crates. Two important factors include "bottle control" within the crate and "nestability" of stacked crates.
Bottle crates generally consist of a rectangular floor and an upright wall, pylons and/or columns extending along the periphery of the floor. Those crates having walls utilize the vertical surface of an interior wall to contact bottles at a tangency point, either at the base of a bottle and/or its mid-section. Forces applied to the sides of such crates direct a line of force through the line of contact of a row of bottles, and the bottles within the crate provide resistance which provides enhanced crate structural integrity.
Unfortunately, bottle shapes may inhibit the effectiveness of the vertical wall crates. Many beverage bottles have a modified cylindrical shape by which the base is somewhat bulbous and larger in diameter than the mid-section of the bottle. Moreover, the vertical wall construction may require that the interior wall be only slightly drafted (approximately 0.5.degree.) away from the interior of the crate. In many instances, the mid-section of a bottle will have minimal contact with the side wall of a crate, if any at all. This lack of contact promotes undesirable tilting or tipping of the bottle.
The vertical wall constructions have been modified so the interior surfaces of the walls have slight indentations or pockets to accommodate the bottles; however, these constructions still lack sufficient bottle control to prevent rocking of bottle-filled stacks of crates. Moreover, the wall construction provides very limited nesting of stacked empty crates that is often limited only to the depth of the floor of the crate. Thus, it is desirable to have a crate that, when filled, controls the movement of the bottle, but also, when empty, provides maximum nesting capabilities.
Nestability is a significant variable considered in minimizing the overall storage space of empty crates. Nesting generally refers to stacking crates, whereby a bottom portion of an upper tray fits within a lower tray or vice versa. Those skilled in the art may appreciate that the higher degree of nesting between consecutively stacked crates minimizes the overall crate stack height and results in significant economies.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,843, for a "Nestable Display Crate for Bottles or the Like", discloses a double-wall construction and pylons disposed around the periphery of the crate floor. The pylons in a lower tray fit within the hollow pylon construction of an upper tray.
The '843 patent includes tapered pylons that are spaced apart around the floor. The bottles are placed between the pylons. The pylons have a pyramid shape with two surfaces facing the interior of the crate. Each surface has an opening within which a portion of a bottle base nests. The base of each pylon has a "stop" intermediate consecutive bottles.
As distinguished from the wall construction which contacts the bottles at a point tangent to the sidewall, a pylon construction controls the bottles by contacting the bottles on their sides toward the interior of the crate. An outside bottle may have a tendency to rock or tip between the pylons, in part because the stop and windows provide a fulcrum point toward the base of the bottle.
In addition, clamping devices, which encompass an entire pallet of crates, are often used to transport crates. The clamping device grips the side walls of crates which may cause the pylons to flex inward and the crates to slip from the grasp of the clamping device which requires firm, preferably vertical, clamping surfaces. Thus, it is desirable to have a crate that has a retaining wall with a point contact that is directed through the line of contact of a row of bottles in a crate and high enough to avoid tipping or tilting. The intermediate position of the pylons between bottles does not provide a line of force through the line of contact of a row of bottles, and may yield allowing tilting of outside bottles between the pylons.
Furthermore, beverage bottles are sold to consumers either as individuals, or in multi-pack packages including six-pack cartons and twelve-pack cartons. Thus, it is desirable that the bottle crate is constructed to universally accommodate these cartons. A tapered pylon construction, as in the '843 patent, will not admit cartons. The cartons have cardboard vertical sides which span the area between bottles occupied by the pylons. It is desirable for a crate to accommodate both the individual, or loose, bottles and the multi-bottle carton.